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Austria's Share of the Danube

By JANE PERLEZ;

Published: October 24, 1993

Correction Appended

I HAVE long associated the Danube with Hungary and especially Budapest, the city so closely defined by the magnificent river that flows through it. That is because the Danube seems scarcely to make an impression on Vienna as it skirts the capital.

But 60 miles west of Vienna, the river broadens, slicing and curving through hilly Austrian countryside so rich with Baroque abbeys and medieval fortresses, vineyards and villages, bike trails and pleasant back roads, that visitors who thought the river was principally Hungary's are unlikely to make that mistake again.

The Danube Valley region in Austria is known as the Wachau. Fortunately for visitors, the main roads on either side of the river between the towns of Krems and Melk hug the banks. Towering over the river are the remains of fortifications built along the early invasion routes in and out of Central Europe.

More visible, and easy to visit, are the sprawling monasteries elaborately redesigned in the Baroque style by the Dominicans in the 1700's and rejuvenated in the last decade through an aggressive restoration program by the Austrian Government. Wherever you go, it is hard not to run into the Hapsburgs: from Maria Theresa and her occasional visits to the abbey at Melk to the family's summer playground at Artstetten Castle, where Archduke Francis Ferdinand lived and was buried after his assassination in Sarajevo.

In the fall, the pewter-gray river -- a blue Danube is a myth, insist the local residents -- contrasts with the deep yellow, orange and red foliage.

This is Austria's main white-wine-growing area, and the terraced vineyards are crowded at this time of year with pickers, wooden barrels for the grapes strapped to their backs. The harvest starts in late September and continues until early November.

The Wachau makes a perfect weekend excursion -- it is compact enough to cover in leisurely fashion in two days and yet of enough interest for a longer visit. There are several ways to approach a trip, which for many begins and ends in Vienna. My husband, Raymond Bonner, and I preferred starting on the north shore, driving westward -- a more stunning introduction, particularly if you choose Durnstein, a well-restored village on a promontory of the river, as your weekend anchor.

There are several hotels and guesthouses to choose from there, including the Hotel Schloss Durnstein, a Renaissance castle on the river converted into a hotel of quiet elegance.

The village of Durnstein lies along one narrow cobbled street, no cars permitted. The two-storied building fronts have been painted pastel shades, the wrought-iron signs and wooden doors left intact. The date on one archway reads 1547. Wine tastings continue in the crisp fall weather under trellises in the courtyard gardens of local bars. The baroque tower of the Durnstein monastery was recently repainted pale blue with white on the frills and furbelows, a color scheme resembling Wedgwood china that makes the locals wince.

"Blue and green are colors of the outgoing Baroque and not of the time of the high Baroque when the tower was planned," said Johann Thiery, whose family has lived in the town for many years and whose Hotel Schloss Durnstein is a model of discreet restoration. "This was all a great scandal when it happened a few years ago. There are fortunately only a few examples of bad restoration, unfortunately one is in Durnstein."

Inside, the Durnstein monastery offers one of the more simple, scaled backed examples of the Baroque style, a taste of grander things to come at Melk farther west along the river.

Above the village of Durnstein, an easy 30-minute walk, the rocky remains of the 12th-century Kunringer castle have escaped the refurbishers.

It was near here that Richard the Lion-Hearted, disguised as a peasant, was captured on his way home from Jerusalem and then imprisoned in the Durnstein fortress by Leopold V of Austria, whom Richard had offended during the Third Crusade. On payment of a ransom, the British King was released in 1193 after a few months.

From Durnstein, the drive along the Danube winds through pretty villages with vistas of the river. The bridge that crosses over to Melk leads to the most ornate abbey in the region. The two towers and bulbous dome of Melk Abbey rise on a rocky bluff, where the Babenberg family established its rule at the end of the 10th century on the site of a Roman stronghold.

The Benedictines converted the castle into a fortified abbey at the end of the 11th century. During the Turkish invasion of the 16th century, the abbey was destroyed by fire.

It was rebuilt in high Baroque style under the energetic direction of Abbot Dietmayr -- known as the great construction prelate -- from 1702 to 1749. In the 1980's, the exterior was painted a standout deep mustard with white trim.

Some art historians consider the color too bold and say a light yellow would have been more correct. Interior galleries have been fashioned into a modern museum with easy-to-read labels in English for the religious art -- mostly altar panels -- gold statues, crosses, and chalices.

Correction: October 24, 1993, Sunday An article on Oct. 24 about the Austrian part of the Danube River misstated the location of Artstetten castle in relation to Ybbs. It is northeast, not south. The article also misstated the year in which the followers of Richard the Lion-Hearted purchased his freedom from Durnstein fortress. It was 1194, not 1193.

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